Ukraines Poroshenko says ready for ceasefire if conditions met -...

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on the telephone on Thursday, saying he was ready to engage in a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels if certain conditions were met, his office said.

"Poroshenko emphasized he was ready to return to a ceasefire as soon as confirmation was received that it is being fulfilled in a bilateral format as well as the release of hostages and the establishment of control over the border through OSCE monitoring," a statement on his website said.

Poroshenko called off a unilateral ceasefire early on Tuesday after numerous attacks by the separatists on Ukrainian forces. He accuses Russia of allowing fighters and weapons to enter Ukraine through their common border.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Poroshenko won parliament's approval to shake up the leadership of the armed forces as they struggle to end a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists.

Parliament endorsed Colonel-General Valery Heletey as defence minister after hearing Poroshenko describe the 46-year-old as a man "who will work day and night for restoring the military capability of our armed forces." He also named a new chief of the general staff.

Poroshenko took office last month with the country in crisis, as two eastern regions press demands to break away and join Russia, following the example of Crimea earlier this year.

After months of unsuccessful attempts to quash the uprising, he wants to sharpen the army's effectiveness while exploring diplomatic options to end the crisis, which has revived East-West tensions in ways reminiscent of the Cold War.

Poroshenko on Monday rejected a further extension of a 10-day unilateral ceasefire in the east, where the government says 200 service personnel have been killed since the start of the conflict, as well as hundreds of civilians and rebels.

In Berlin on Wednesday the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, after talks with German and French ministers, supported a further meeting of a "contact group" involving separatist leaders and aimed at trying to work out conditions for a more lasting ceasefire.

The group includes a former president of Ukraine, who is informally representing Kiev, Moscow's ambassador to Kiev, and a high-ranking official from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It should meet "no later than July 5th with the goal of reaching an unconditional and mutually agreed sustainable ceasefire", a document agreed by the four ministers said.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to encourage the separatists to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian authorities, the French president's office said.

REUTERS

Ukraine's Poroshenko says ready for ceasefire if conditions met